 |
| Source: http://www.cpnuml.org/ |
- Relevance: 4
- Coherence: 4
- Practical Achievability: 2
Declarations on Health Care in CPN-UML's Manifesto:
- Basic health services will be guaranteed as fundamental right of the people. Everyone will have access to free essential and primary health care. State funds will be mobilised to bring all citizens to a health insurance scheme.Contribution-based social security funds will be mobilised for health insurance for those in the employment.
- Maternal mortality rate will be brought down to the lowest minimum.State will take the whole responsibility for maternity protection. An air ambulance facility will be arranged for the protection of postnatal deaths in remote areas.
- Hospitals and health posts will be arranged in such a manner that increases every citizen’s access to health services. Prioritised health services will be made easily available. Enough subsidies will be provided for the treatment of heart, cancer, kidney and other chronic diseases. Tele-medicine facility will be promoted.
- Children of the families with the State Facility Identity Card will be provided with a child protection subsidy to ensure that the children are malnutrition-free.
- Access of all citizens to essential health services will be guaranteed through a health insurance scheme. No one will be deprived of basic health services due to the lack of economic support.
My Comments:
"Fundamental right" should be qualified. I think it is the moral responsibility of the nation to ensure health care access to all of her citizens. But using a legal approach to access to basic health care services is flawed primarily because it takes a mechanistic approach to a humanistic endeavor. The manifesto doesn't explain what it means by "fundamental right", I would welcome it if they meant it as a responsibility of the nation to her citizens.
The manifesto mentions "free health care." We have to recognize that "free" is a populist approach. There can be no "free" health care. We can pool risks and try to pay as a collective effort but health care is something that needs materials and manpower that come with cost. It can never be free.
They categorically address mother and child. It is a very applaudable thing. Especially, if we were to triage the current mortality trends based on our moral obligations. However, there is also a need to address other diseases/health risks because the current pattern of mortality is changing rapidly. Non-communicable diseases and injuries have already surpassed mortality related to maternity and childhood illnesses and communicable diseases. While it is urgent to keep up with the achievements in maternal and child health and set sight to lofty goals as the manifesto puts, we will also need to address other issues. We do have resources to work on all of them at the same time.
Their statement about health care facilities is broad and non-specific. And that, I think, is good. They commit to ensuring access to hospitals and health posts which is clear but do not delve into the exercise of specifying how it will be achieved, which is a largely technical issue which needs expert debates. They have fallen into the allure of telemedicine. In countries like Nepal it is a mistake to bank too much on telemedicine. They can be accessories but there are much more urgent things that need priority (none of which, I believe, are going to be solved by telemedicine; it can be a separate discussion).
Overall, I think CPN-UML's manifesto's health care content is well done. It gives a broad philosophical stroke to their political approach to health care. They have not relied heavily on populist declarations. They have ample space to maneuver on implementation because the declarations are broad and non-specific.
(P.S. I downgraded my earlier scoring for Practical Achievability based on rereads of their statement)
No comments:
Post a Comment